PHILADELPHIA, PA – Forum: Fighting Back Against Fascism and the Far Right feat. Daryle Lamont Jenkins, John Leslie and Brittany W.
Tue Jul 18th 6:30pm – 9:00pm (EDT)
William Way LGBT Community Center,
1315 Spruce St, Philadelphia, PA 19107, USA
Forum: Fighting Back Against Fascism and the Far Right
Workers’ Voice presents a panel discussion on the rise of the far right, the current offensive against queer and trans people, and how we can fight back.
Speakers:
Daryle Lamont Jenkins – antifascist researcher, founder and executive director of One People’s Project, and editor of Idavox.
John Leslie – labor, socialist, and antifascist activist, Workers’ Voice.
Brittany W. – educator speaking on the far-right offensive against LGBTQ people in the schools.
Racism, anti-Semitism, sexism, homophobia, and transphobia are on the rise — stoked by lies and conspiracy theories. The result is a sharp increase in hate crimes against oppressed peoples. This hate is being brought forth not only by violent fascists like the Proud Boys and Patriot Front but also by groups like Moms for Liberty and politicians of the GOP. Trumpism has set these forces in motion in recent years, but the roots of the current far-right surge go deeper into the history of racism that is so ingrained in U.S. capitalist society.
White supremacist ideas like the “great replacement theory” and Christian nationalism are being mainstreamed in one of the two bourgeois parties, as the Republicans increasingly take on features of a far-right party. But the Democratic Party, the traditional party of slavery and Jim Crow segregation, likewise facilitates the current climate of prejudice, as it seeks to maintain the status quo on behalf of capitalism. The Biden administration’s clamping down against Latino and Haitian migrants on the border is one example of its reactionary policies.
Stopping the far right will take a mass movement of millions. Cops, capitalist courts, and liberal politicians won’t save us. The key to opposing the far right is independent, united front mass counter-mobilization by the working class and oppressed. It also means exercising our right to self-defense in an organized way.
Again – that was the advertisement for the event. This forum presents a somewhat different approach than our last interviewee – Alexander Reid Ross.
A warning to the listeners – the sound quality is rough in some parts particularly the end portion with the question and answer segment but we believe that this is very much worthwhile listening to.
Listen to the podcast at:
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